Aeroplane-engine carburation



G. J. SPHHER. AEROPLANE ENGWE CARBURATION. APPLICATION FLED OCT' 1G, 1918.

better understood by reference to the following description in connection with the acconipanying drawings which illustrate dla- ,grainmatieally an internal conihustion enstruction of tlie parts employed in practising' it.

In the drawingrs, Fignre 1 is a diagrammatic view of oiie side of an internal combustion engine broken away in part and Fig. 2 is a sectional detail view through the axis of the air compresser.

Referrin-g' to these drawings, the cylinders of tlie engine are indicated at Il and the exhanst. oiitlet valves of the vlinders communicate with aii exhaust eonduit 4 which extends alongone side of the engine. The carhiireter is shown aty 5 having a main air intake at (i. an auxiliar);YY air iiitak*I at T, a fuel inlet at 8, aiid an Operating` mechanisin for the throttle valve at 9.

In accordance with this invention. a closed conduit provided extendingi' from an air compresser 10 to the air inlets G and 7 of the carbureter. .Preferahljv this closed conduit 11 surrounds a portion of the exhaiist pipe '1 as is sliown at 12 so that air passing' throughthe conduit 11 will he hcated hy the exhaiist gases. At any suitable point in the condiiit 11, aii opening' 13 is provided through which the air of the siirroiiiiding atmosphere .may he drawn into the conduit 11 and supplied theretliroug'li to the car-v biireter at a pressure depeiidiniz iipoii the density of the surroiiinling' air. .i valve 14: is provided whei'ehy this opening' 12' inay be completely closed when desired. rllhis valve 14 is shown as pivotally mounted and .provided with a e 'ank 15 to which aii operating rod 16 is pivotally connected so that the valve 11 may he swung' to the. position in which it 1s shown iii Fri. 1 for ('losing' the connection from the ('oiiipi'essor 10 to' the condnit 11 and opening' the i'iassag'e 13 for atmospheric air'to the interior 'of con duit 11 or to a position for closin', the passage 13 so that atmospherie air mayv not. enter the conduit 1,1 when air is supplied to the carbureter by the compressoilO.

The eompressor 10 ina oc of any suitable construction. It is shown as consistiner of a shaft 17 on which hlades or'vaiies 19 are mounted radially to rotate within a casingr 19 eorresponding in shape aiid size to the hlades 18. The casing 19 is provided witli 'an oiitlet to which the end of tlie conduit 11' 'is connected.

The shaft- 17 is pi'efcrahl'i'y connected to a driving meinher hy iiieaiis of a mannally opei'ated chitch consistiiig of a clutcli member secured oii shatt 17 and a coperating clutch nieiuher :21 whirh is splined oii a drivin;y sha ft 2:2. rthe nicinhor 21 is iiioved axiz'illj.`v on sha'f': 22 iii auv :inilO ahle manncr as h'v a hell crank lcvoi' il and heratingrl' rod 21-. The shaft inav hc connected h v suitahle e'carinnj to the shafl ol the internal coiiihiisiiou engine or il uia v he driven hv a sniall indcpcndcni niotor.

rThe casinliiv if) of the conipi'cssor ll) is provided with an intake opening' which is preferahl'v disposcd axiallv in the inaiuicr indicated iii Fin. :2 and this opcnin:T vided with a rcfulaliug dcvirc i'or closing it nioi'e or les. under auionirdic control to increase or diniiiiish the fi'ci'doiu of now of :itniospheric air into the coniprcnfoi' casino' for compression and .supply io the carhnreter. lin the present instancc. the `aha fi li' i--' shown as having a slccvc 2.7 lixcd ihf'ri'io and provided with radiallv projcciiin: :ii'ix's` on which hell ci'aiik lcvci'sV 2h :irc pivozallv niounted. The inner cnds` of thc-c ariiis extendfiiito a cii'ciinifcreiitial groove on a valve nienihcr *li iii the forin of a -lccvc which is adaptcd io slide oii the shafi IT. The outer ends of the hcll crank lcvcrs i" ('ai'iwY hladcs 23 of sinall sixc and lig-hl weight disposed at an iin'linc io the cii'A ciinifcrence of a circlc whose center is iii the axis of slia ft li. The valve inciiihci' :27 is presscd outwai'dl v h v a spring' 'Jil coilod on shaft ll and heai'inif at onc cud against a coliar 30 on shaftiT and ai ihc oi'hci' end against. the valve incinhei' 27. 'the coaciing surfaces of the valve ineinhcr 27 and its; oai" oii the wall ahoui the iiilci' opcniii; of the coniprcssoi' ai'c corrcsinnidiurllv fashioui'a'l as h v making lheln of coi ical forniaiior..

rl`he conduit ll lcadiur froni (hi` 'oiii prcssoi' to the carhurctcr is pi'cfcrahlv pro vidcd with a valve for fuarding :igairfl iho dcvelopeniciit of exccssivc pressure conditions within the couduii. lu no cvcnl would it hc dcsirahle to havi'` the pressure within the coiiduit raiscd to a point iii cxccss of atinosphcric pressure at the carthl surface. ,The ideal forni of relief valvc would hc onc which would allow of the csi'apc of :iii' froni the conduit wheiievz-r the pressure lhcri'iu cxcecdcd atniosphci'ic pressure at the carh'a surface` irrespectivc of thc dcnsitv of thc air iii wliicli the appai'aius is heinn` opcr ated. ln practice. howcver. it would sullicc to use a simple foriii of pressure relief valve of a common tvpc cxcept 'for the fact that instead of hcing set foi' a hack 'pressure cqual to the atinosphcric pressure existing' at the eai'tli`s surface. it would hc sci for a less amount of hack pressure coi'i'cspoinh iiif to that existing at tli` approxiinatc clevation :it which the niachiiie would hc iiorniallv operated or a hack pressure coual io thai existing' at the niaxiinuni clevation :it which the iiiacliiin` would he operatcd. luch a relief valve is indicated at 31.

is prolltl lllll lll neeopai controlling mechanism therefor such that the ,compressingr action would vary directly at all 'times with changes in the elevation of the aeroplanes above the earthls surface, the

` coim'Ji'essing action beingl zero at the earthls eutace and rising steadily with the elevation so that within the conduit from the eompressor to the oarbureter an air pressure equal to the'atmospheric pressure at the' eartlfs surface. would bo maintained at all elevations. Such a mechanism would seem to involve undue eomplenity and it is, therefora considered preferable to use a simple niechanism which. appronimates the desired end. Practicein the past has shown that aoro-planes drifven by zinternal combustion a ies can mount to lieights of sav 15,000 feet without enperiencing difliculty in the operation ofithe engine due to rai'efication of the air. v'li`'`he:re fo're, it is not necessary that the 'air supply to the carbureter be compressed at elevations up to that named. itordingly, the olutch consisting of thel membfrs 20 and 21 is provided permitting the compressor to remain at' rest until the operator starts to ascend at a high elevation at which time he would move the lever controlling the movable clutoh member 21 to Vlfith the 'construction illustrated, the carloureter would be supplied at the lower levels with air drawn into the oonduit 11 through the passage 13 leading to' the atmosphere! lWhen the compressor is eoupled. to its driving' shaft, by manipulation the cl/utch' the movable lclutch member 21 soV that 'the single movement of a/control lever by the operator serves to couple the compressor to its driving shaft and at the same time close the atmospheric opening 13 in the conduit ll by means of the valve 14.

The eompressing action of the compressor 10 is automatically Controlled by regulating the freedom with which air enters the casing 19. llllhen the rotor 18 of the compressor y is rotated, the vanes or blades 535i are rotated with :it and these blades assume an angular position dependent upon the density of the air in which they are rotated and they control by their angrular `position the location of the movable valve member 27 with referenoe oto its' seat. llfhen the compressor is der pressure from the compressor to the air first brought into action by manipulatingthe clutch, the niechanism is in air of the greatest density in which it is supposed to be used. Therefore, the resistance to the angularly disposed vanes or blades 28 as those blades rotate is greatest and the blades move out away from the axis rof rotation, thus turning1 the levers 26 on their pivots and moving the valve member 27 close to its seat. `The. freedom of entrance of air into the compressor casing 19 is, therefore, restricted and the compressing action o'fthe oompressor is reduced to a low point. As the acroplane ascends into air of less density, the resistance offered by the' air to the bladeg 28 is decreased and these blades move'toward each other to a corresponding extent. its they turn thus about their pivots they move the valve member 27 out `1ardly away from its seat and thus increase the freedom of flow 'of air into the compressor. The compressingr action of the compressor, therefore, i becomes greater as the density of the air (liminishes. llhus, a pressure of air is maintained within the ('onduit ll in excess of the pressure of the air in which the aeroplane isbeing' operated and by reason of the automatic control of the action the com- `press'or, the pressure of this air within the oonduit ll approximatcs a Constant amount.

` By reason of this increased pressure of the couple the compressor to its drivlng` shaft.

air supplied to the carbureter at high alti- 'tudes over the pressure of the surroiindirngv air and by reason of the apln'oxiniatcly eonstant pressure of the air notwitlistamlinf); variations in the density of the suri'oundingair incident to changes of eler'. tion, far 'better results in the operation of ioo , the engine' may be obtained.

I olaim: I

1. An internal combustion engine comprising the combination of cylinders, pistons thercin. a carbureteii' foisiimilyiiur a gaseous minture to the cylinders.v an air compressor, a eonduit for cari'ying air unintake of thecarburejter, and an automatic controlling ineohanism' comprisingz continuously rotating` vanes for regulating the compressingr action of the air compressor.

w E2. An internal combustion engine having a carbureter for supplying' a gaseous mixture to the cylinders of the engine and means for supplying air under pressure to the air intake of the carbureter. comprising the combination of a compressor, a conduit connecting` the compre'ssor to the air intake of the carbureterfa valve controlling` the admission of atmospheric air to the compressor, and a pair of vanes mounted on the shaft of the compressor and controlling the position of the valve.

3. An internal coinbustion engine comprisng the combination of cylinders, pistons therein7 a carbureter for supplying a 130 gaseons nlxtnre to the cylinders, an air eompressor, a condnit connecting the air coi'npressor to the air intake of the car' bnreter, a valve controlling an opening in the ('ondnit for adrnitting atmospheric air theretol` means for eonnectingir the rotary member of the eompressor to a power driven member, a port in the using of the (rompressor for adinitting` atmospheric aii` to the casine` to be ('ompressed therein.V a Valve controllinv Isaid port and a pair of vane pivotally rnonnted on the rotary member of the compressor so as to be free to :Lssnnie positions determined by the densit \v of the snrronnding atmosphere and connected to said last named valve for positioninr the same.

al.. 'In aTi internal combnstion engine, the

combination of cylindem. a carbnreter.

an air compressor` a condnit to lead e nnpre-2 e l air from the compressor to the ('arlnn'meix valve means associated with said condni to control the deli\'e1' of air from the vom-- pressor to the cai'hnretcr. and rhnrh niean to control the operation of the ai1` 'ni pressor which is intcrconnecte l with said valve means, n'herebv the clnlch means and valve means are sininltaneonabv operaled.

5. The ('(nnbinatizon aclaiine'l in claiin 'l' said condnit being;` provided with an inlet for atnmspheric air said valve mean4 fur ther fnnctioning to control 4 aid inlet.

in tehtimony whereol' l atlix miv signature. 

